Chapter 8 - The Deed Was Not Yet Legal
The document I picked up at brunch was a:
draft deed.
Important.
Diane had not secretly transferred the lake property that morning.
There was no magical completed sale hidden beneath:
her plate.
The draft was part of an estate-planning proposal.
Diane wanted to transfer the LLC-held property into a:
family legacy trust.
Reasons on paper:
avoid future partition disputes,
centralize maintenance,
protect the property from divorce and creditors,
preserve family use.
All potentially sensible.
The problem was:
beneficiary definition.
Biological descendants.
That excluded:
Sophia
by design.
When I confronted Jason privately three days after brunch, he admitted he had seen:
the draft.
“How long?”
“Couple weeks.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And said nothing?”
“It’s Mom’s property.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Jason rubbed his forehead.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want to know why the daughter you adopted is deliberately excluded.”
“Because it’s Mom’s family asset.”
I stared.
“Whose family are you?”
Silence.
May you like
That was the answer.
---
